A/N: An apology: I have never been pregnant/given birth so I’m sorry if this entire story is wildly inaccurate lol

Rose

The woman behind the desk raised her eyebrows at the sight of me and Scorpius. I probably look like a panicked mess and he looked awkward carrying my floral bag… I supposed I’d raise my eyebrows too. 

“Yes?” she said uncertainly.

Scorpius glanced at me, clearly not sure if it was his place to speak.

“My name is Rose Granger-Weasley,” I told her. “My water broke about ten minutes ago.” I gave her the name of my doctor, and she called someone to take me to a room. I’d had one contraction about five minutes ago, so it wasn’t really necessary to be here quite yet, but early was better than late and I hadn’t known what to do with myself at the house except pace in nervous anticipation. 

When we reached the room I’d been assigned, I noticed that Scorpius hesitated in the doorway. I looked at him. “You don’t have to stay,” I said softly. 

He bit his lip, apparently not sure what the right answer was. “I will… If you don’t mind. At least until your mum or someone gets here. I don’t want to leave you alone.” We’d sent Lucy with a house elf to find my mum at the Ministry. 

I smiled at my ex-boyfriend. “Thanks, Scorpius.”

For a brief moment, I wondered why I had broken things off with him in the first place. Then another contraction started, and I remembered - When I was with him, I did idiotic things like having sex without protection and getting pregnant. Ugh.

Scorpius

The contraction must have been a lot worse than the first one, because she’d borne that one with little more than a grimace, but this time she made a sort of pained noise.

When Rose gasped, or whatever you want to call it, the mediwitch who had escorted us to the room was suddenly alert. She hustled Rose to the bed, took out her wand, and began casting spells that I’d never heard before. The moment of pain seemed to pass, though, and the girl I loved sighed.

“Sorry. That… startled me.” She attempted a chuckle.

“You… you’re okay?”

“Yes. Quite. This is how it’s supposed to go.” She smirked. “I thought you were becoming a healer? Shouldn’t you know stuff like this?”

“I’m not going to be a bloody pregnancy specialist.”

Rose clucked scoldingly. “Mind your speech, Malfoy, there’s going to be young ears in here before long.”

I sunk into the chair next to the bed, sighing. “Bloody hell, I can’t believe we’re here.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “It does seem strange, doesn’t it? A year ago I wouldn’t even speak to you, and now… ”

“Say, did you pick a name? I forgot to ask that before.”

The girl I loved smiled. “Mum suggested Magnolia. Isn’t that awful? I mean, it’d be Maggie for short, but imagine being weighed down with a name like that.”

I scoffed. “My name is Scorpius, darling. I don’t have to imagine.”

She flinched when I called her darling, but didn’t say anything about it. “Your name is alright, as Malfoys go. Everyone knows your family is a bit eccentric when it comes to naming. I heard that your great-grandfather’s name was Abraxas.”

I gave her a wry smile. “True. I suppose I should be grateful… Anyway, disregarding Magnolia, is there a name that you do like?”

“Willow,” she said. “Willow Jade.”

“That’s lovely.” It sounded really good, actually. Willow Jade Malfoy. Or Granger-Weasley. We hadn’t really gotten around to the surname conversation yet. 

“Yeah, I’ve always liked the name… my mum used to tell stories about playing in the willow trees by the house where she grew up. I always wanted to go there.”

“Why didn’t you?”

She hesitated. “Mum… doesn’t really see her parents. She would never tell us why. Dad says that they had a falling out after the War.”

“You mean to tell me you’ve never met your grandparents?” 

“Nope. They send us Christmas cards and such, but mum has always told us not to write back.”

“That’s bullshit… You never tried to go behind your mum’s back?”

“You forget, I’m not a rule breaker like you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Maybe not, but it’s utterly ridiculous to keep you away from your grandparents because of some silly feud. Don’t you have their address?”

“Well, yes.”

I couldn’t help shaking my head. “Merlin, Rose, I can’t believe you’ve never tried to go see them.”

“Well I-”

“Rosie?” Her mum had just walked through the door.

Well, speak of the devil, I thought dryly.

Rose smiled. “Hi, Mum. I hope Luce didn’t interrupt anything important.”

“No, not at all. Hello, Scorpius.” She gave me a small smile before entering a conversation with her daughter that I couldn’t really follow. I heard the word ‘doctor’ and other than that a lot of medical terminology I didn’t understand. 

When they were done talking, Rose looked up at me. “You can go, Scorpius… It could be a long time before anything really happens.”

I hesitated. I wanted to stay. But I couldn’t ignore the look on her face - the look that said she didn’t need me here anymore. I nodded slowly. “Sure. Yeah. Just… let me know as soon as the baby’s born.”

“Of course.” 

I stood up to go, pausing in the doorway to wave, but they were already deep in a whispered conversation that I clearly wasn’t meant to be a part of. 

I wasn’t really leaving, of course. I made my way to the waiting room, where I planned to stay for as long as I needed to. I grabbed a copy of the Daily Prophet from a table and sunk into a rather uncomfortable chair, sighing. It was going to be a long day.

• • •

“Oi, Malfoy. Malfoy.”

Strong hands were on my shoulders, shaking me. I must have fallen asleep… I opened my eyes, and found a redheaded boy staring back at me.

"Rose had the baby," he informed me. I must have given him a curious look, because he added, "I'm Hugo, by the way."

I blinked. "Ah. Yes. I know who you are. The… everything went okay? She's okay?"

Rose's brother nodded, smiling. "She's asking for you."

I stood up and followed him to the room. My first thought was to rush in ecstatically, but I paused with my hand on the doorknob. 

Inside this room… was my child. The idea of being a father still terrified me… I knew it wouldn't be easy. But I'd figure it out, wouldn't I? I always did.